The market revenue for baby products in the United States was 4.6 billion dollars in 2015 and will reach 11.1 billion dollars by 2025.
In other words, business is booming for baby product manufacturers.
If you’re just getting started with manufacturing baby products, you might be asking yourself:
- How do I locate a suitable manufacturer for your product?
- What’s the best way to make a prototype?
- How do I increase profit margins?
And many more questions. We will cover them all in this guide. So read on to learn everything you need to know about manufacturing baby products.
Make Your Idea The Best It Can Be
The design phase of manufacturing baby products is both important and challenging.
1. Is the Concept Eye-catching?
Your competitors include industry giants like Graco, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and other major brands. You’ll also face competition from companies that have already established themselves in your local market.
To build on your idea, start by conducting research.
Read popular trade magazines like Baby Maternity Retailer, Baby And Children Product News, and Baby Care Magazines International.
During fieldwork, visit stores to look at the advertising, products in different price ranges, different categories, and promotional campaigns. Online databases can help you locate baby product stores near you.
Research popular online stores such as Babies Bloom Store and Baby Mall Online.
Look for the following features as you browse:
- user-friendly design
- well-planned cart navigation
- mobile-friendly interface
- eye-catching online marketing techniques
- high-quality products
2. Is Your Concept Profitable?
Great products have a specific yet wide-ranging appeal.
Use the following criteria as a guide to determine how profitable your product can be.
The product needs to be safe, high-quality, and fulfill unmet customer demands.
Next, think about the landscape of the baby product industry. Local and international competition, growth potential, and competitive pricing are factors to consider here.
Lastly, the market criteria are threefold. The product needs to be following current market trends, be user-friendly, and have a reasonable production cost.
Visit Understand Your Market, an educational resource run by the US Small Business Administration, to read more about creating a marketable concept.
Lastly, make sure you can grow your business and create a whole product line based on the same core concept. Use your USP and adapt it to follow different seasonal trends, color palettes, and limited edition products.
3. Assessing Cost-effectiveness
Before committing to mass production, getting a reliable cost estimate and allocation is crucial. You can use various accounting methods for this. An easy way to do this is to contact our dedicated group of professionals to help you calculate these costs..
Prototype production varies greatly depending on your idea. We suggest using Computed Aided Designs to simulate your products before committing to a prototype.
Prototyping companies can help in this endeavor.
Once a prototype is ready, contact potential manufacturers to get a cost estimate, which will differ based on your production scale.
4. Does The Concept Follow Safety Standards?
Multiple organizations have standards for different types of products. Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association provides certification that many parents look for while buying products. American Society of Testing and Materials has specific guidelines for different baby products.
Resources are also available for international safety standards.
5. Is The Concept Patented?
Patent attorneys are authorized to perform patent searches, including scanning several databases for existing patents on a particular idea.
It takes a long time to get a patent by yourself because it’s a complex process, which is why we don’t suggest you do this alone.
This stage is critical for your research because major retailers might have patented designs that aren’t yet available on the market.
Know Your Customer
Determine your customers’ gender and age group, including the hobbies and interests common among this group.
Remember, advertising efforts will be focused on parents, especially if your product is for infants.
Categorizing a target audience will let you focus your marketing and packaging efforts on creating a look that appeals to them. Parents in the market for pacifiers will most likely be looking for cribs, sensory toys, and other products popular for children in that age group.
Design Your Product
You can begin designing once you have a clear vision and a target audience in mind.
The steps in the list below will assist you in manufacturing baby products that everyone will love:
1. Brainstorm Your Product Idea
Brainstorming helps you understand how the rest of the baby product manufacturing process will go. That includes details like packaging, marketing, and production scale. You want to get all your ideas out so that you can sift through them to make decisions about the next few steps. We suggest using your competitive market analysis as a barometer for this session.
The following checklist can act as a guideline to direct your brainstorming session:
- Mission statement and motto – your end-goal for this product and the ethos you want your business to embody
- Product – your unique selling point and how you’re going to achieve it
- Pricing – what is a fair cost for your product
- Placement – where you will sell your product (your store, other retail locations, pop-up stores, etcetera)
- Promotion – what your advertising will look like and who it aims to captivate
The brainstorming session will assist you in developing an insightful project guideline.
2. Make Product Sketches
To make sketches for the product, you can either hire a professional artist or do it yourself. Use the brainstorming session as a guide to ensure you don’t forget anything.
Think about things like size, color, and potential variations for future products.
3. Visualize Your Product With 3D Models
With the initial sketch in hand, you can begin designing a 3D model. To build a digital model, artists use CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software.
Depending on the artist, this process will take anywhere from one to seven days.
You can create a 3D model on your own using software like Zbrush, but we recommend hiring a professional.
Design A Prototype
The process of building prototypes for baby product manufacturing can vary significantly.
Depending on your product, you may need to consult a professional. You can make samples of simple products such as fabric-based products at home. However, products that require complex machinery may need to go through a professional prototyping company.
An easy way to differentiate between complex and straightforward prototypes is to research their respective manufacturing processes.
The more technical the process, the better it is to hire a professional for this step. For example, manufacturing a toy is a highly complex process requiring professional assistance.
For instance, baby clothes only require fabric, thread, and a sewing machine. However, manufacturing a stroller requires aluminum or plastic to be bent into a frame, numerous belts, and buckles.
Hire A Suitable Factory
You’ll need to find a factory that’s compatible with your needs for mass production.
Retailers and manufacturers handle mass production in different ways. A retailer will take over the entire process, allowing you to focus on the creative factors, while a manufacturer will require you to handle the supply chain.
You can either work with retailers or contact a manufacturer yourself. Retailers already have contacts in the manufacturing industry and can take over the process once they agree to partner with you. However, it’ll give you less creative control over the process.
Local and international manufacturers can help you start mass production. You can keep an eye on local manufacturers to tweak the process, but they tend to cost more. Outsourcing is cheaper, but field visits can be time-consuming.
Because of their long-standing deals with wholesalers, working with a well-known retailer would help speed up this process. They’ll also have partnerships with factories with high-grade equipment.
You can outsource the entire manufacturing process to factories in other countries to save money. Trade fairs are an excellent place to start your search for a factory.
Contact your local economic development chapter to get in touch with a global expert who has vetted manufacturers in other countries and will represent you.
Some databases to help narrow down a factory:
Supply Chain
You have a detailed understanding of how to manufacture baby products at this stage.
Remember to consider the following steps.
1. Plan It Out
This phase involves what you need before commercial manufacturing can start. You need to start with a great idea, then construct a prototype and locate a manufacturing facility.
2. Procure Quality Materials
The production line starts with sourcing raw materials. This step will differ depending on the type of baby product you want to make. For example, a stroller will require you to source metals like aluminum for the frame and fabric for the seat.
Building relationships with suppliers to source your materials is critical.
Experts in supply chain management will advise you on aligning your needs with what’s available in the supply market.
Quality and profit margins will both be decided by your investment in raw materials.
Our professionals at Gembah can help you get the best raw materials for your product.
3. Have a Seamless Manufacturing Line
Manufacturing a product necessitates the use of raw materials, machinery, analytics, and other industrial knowledge. That is where we recommend you consult with experts in the field, such as our team at Gembah.
The following are some of the most important steps:
- Forecasting Demand
- Identifying bottlenecks in the process
- Analysis of Throughput Accounting
- Supervising Performance and Productivity
4. Delivery Procedures
It’s vital to know the mode of delivery. Depending on your target audience and product placement, numerous excellent options optimize the process and reduce the selling cost.
For example, if you are short on inventory storage space, using the technique of cross-docking, you can optimize the process.
The following are the key players in the delivery process.
Wholesalers play a significant role because the flow of inventory is dependent on them. Developing long-term relationships and determining delivery timings and methods can be tricky if you work independently.
Retailers are crucial because they have direct contact with your customers.
You must assess the incentive schemes offered to retailers to determine an appropriate margin and promotional shelves. These incentives encourage retailers to display products in the best possible location based on consumer behavior.
5. Meeting The Customer’s Needs
The final part of the system is the consumer. A careful review is required to determine the price, expedite sales returns, product placement, and meet customers’ requirements. Extensive study of consumer behavior, a thorough analysis of data gathered through CRM, and other factors help determine this step.
You must have a system in place for faulty products and customer returns. The return policy increases consumer satisfaction and the parent company’s good faith.
Because these factors are essential in retaining customers, we suggest that you prioritize them as you would any other process for long-term success.
It’s Time To Start
For those who are new to the industry, the complexity of manufacturing baby products can be scary.
That is where our team at Gembah can help you build a successful business:
- Optimize the entire process by guiding you through the right way to conduct each phase.
- Have a team of experienced developers available so that you create the perfect product.
- Find a factory that is perfectly suited to your needs.
- Keep an eye on the manufacturing process to ensure the integrity of your product and the timeliness of deliveries.
- Avoid common mistakes like a lack of planning.
- To guarantee your company’s success, develop a product that is worth the investment.
- By preventing money waste, you can significantly raise your profit margins.
- Investigate the market to ensure that your product is the best in the industry.
- Produce high-quality products on time to build a long-term customer base.
So, if you have a terrific idea for a new product and need some help, you’ve reached the right place! Start working with us right now to make your vision come true.
